Congress has to step up to the plate and help ease the long-term unemployment problem, according to Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke.

The central bank boss, describing the fact that 45 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for more than six months as a “national crisis,” called on Capitol Hill lawmakers to get moving on the issue.

“There are certainly some areas where other policymakers could contribute,” he told an audience in Cleveland after giving a speech.

In remarks after the speech, given in the home state of House Majority Leader John Boehner, Bernanke said the percentage of long-term unemployed “is unheard of.”

The surprise remarks were Bernanke’s most harsh yet in his new pushback against congressional attacks on the Fed boss’ handling of central bank policies on the economy’s woes.

It is the most opposition the Federal Reserve has seen in almost two decades.

While most of the attacks have come from Republican leaders, a good deal has come from dissenters within the Fed.

The criticism comes as the Fed is running out of ammunition to battle the crippled US economy and start the jobs-creating machine again.

Boehner couldn’t be reached for reaction to the hot-potato toss by Bernanke, nor could Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House majority leader.

Bernanke said the core of the jobless crisis is that nearly half of the unemployed have been out of work for more than a half-year, and are starting to give up hope.

“This unemployment situation we have, the jobs situation, is really a national crisis,” Bernanke said in response to a question.

“We’ve had close to 10 percent unemployment now for a number of years and, of the people who are unemployed, about 45 percent, have been unemployed for six months or more,” the Fed chief said.

“This has never happened in the post-war period in the United States. They are losing the skills they had, they are losing their connections to the labor force.”

Bernanke said Congress should take more responsibility on the crisis.

“There are certainly some areas where other policymakers could contribute,” he said.

“The Federal Reserve has made enormous efforts to try to help this economy recover and stabilize.”

There was a ray of hope in Labor Department data yesterday showing that the number of people filing for jobless benefits fell by 37,000 to 391,000 on the last week.

Economists said the number was likely to change due to weather problems that delayed reporting data.

“Calendar quirk or not, the four-week moving average is at a three-week low,” said economist Dana Sporta at Credit Suisse Securities. The four-week average is 417,000 down from 422,250 the previous week.